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Round 1 Power Rankings: Drivers

Here are the powering rankings following round one at St. Petersburg. Number next to driver represents change in rankings based off of last rankings:

Biggest Mover- Takuma Sato (+10)
Biggest Loser- Oriol Servia (-11)

How awesome was that?!

1. Helio Castroneves +7
Brought a tear to my eye when he won and climbed the fence on Dan Wheldon Way after his victory. Looking past his post race epicness, Helio drove one hell of a race, which included an amazing pass on the outside in T1 against Scott Dixon.

2. Scott Dixon +1
Great statement race by Dixie. He has come close to winning the championship in the last three season, but came up short in the end. Looking back, you could pin why he didn't win to his failures at St. Pete. Now he has started on the right foot.

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay +4
Ryan established himself as the leader of Andretti Autosport with a third place finish. A shame though, would have loved to see what he could have done if he wasn't conserving fuel the whole race.

4. Will Power -3
*Alert* Will Power has gone missing after the first caution. If you find him, you will be rewarded with a hug. If not, I will give you the double birds.

5. Kevin Ryan Briscoe +1
A quietly good race by Ryan Briscoe, started on the front row but went backwards, and then forwards, and then backwards, and then finished third. He is adapting well to the DW12.

6. James Hinchcliffe +6
Manica was under so much pressure, but you would have never guessed is based off of his driving. Drove like a seasoned veteran, fast all weekend. And that was his first time in an Indycar at St. Pete, now he will be going to tracks he is familiar with.

7. Dario Franchitti -6
Awful, horrible, or as Charles Barkley would say, horriawful, race by Dario. He had a trick up his sleeve? He trick worked about as well as performing a card trick to a blind guy.

8. Marco Andretti +1
Marco looked like he had speed, but didn't do a very good job of taking care of his tires. That is easily fixable though, good race by Marco.

9. Tony Kanaan -5
Bummer for TK. I always thought TK was an Energizer Bunny since he is running all the time, maybe they should attach some leads to his heart so he can keep the car running.

10. Simon Pagenaud +8
Who knows what Pags could have done if he hadn't changed his engine. Great run for him, and he has raced at Barber before. Watch out world.

11. EJ Viso +4
I told you all! The Venezuelan Badger got food poisoning, but he didn't give a shit, he went out there and raced his ass off. Great job Badger.

12. Josef Newgarden +2:^ | <------ That is my jaw hitting the ground after watching him race. He is for real people, I'm not just blowing smoke up his ass. He was an over taking machine! More to come, someone please sponsor him.

13. Graham Rahal -8
I am rather disappointed with Graham's race that he had, unimpressive, he went backwards. Time to bounce back at Barber.

14. Takuma Sato +10
Sato opened everyone's eyes before getting shafted by the gearbox. He has my full attention and will no longer look down upon him. Aggressive yet in control all race, well done.

15. Justin Wilson -3
Although he finished in the top ten, he had a rather poor weekend. Qualified P16, and stalled in the pits on his own. But it is Justin Wilson, he always has the potential to win.

16. Mike Conway +5
Mike Conway was running well until something went wrong. But he is running strong and up there with the best of 'em.

17. Sebastien Bourdais 0
Bourdais was clearly the best Lotus driver until he got screwed by said Lotus engine. He proved to be a tough one to pass, and, as a driver for a Lotus team, you have to have that skill.

18. Charlie Kimball +4
Char dog with a great run. I was getting to outcast him at Ganassi as the weakest driver by far. But then he goes out and beating Dario and Graham. Do this on a more consistent basis, and I will be a believer.

19. JR Hildebrand 0
Ah man I am so gutted for this team! Great run going all day, passed Dario and many others, but ran out of fuel, denying him of a top ten finish. Like I said in my previous power rankings, he needs to do a better job of qualifying on road courses.

20. Alex Tagliani 0
Tags was the highest finishing Lotus in the field... Big deal, that was still only good enough for P15. At least he finished.

21. Oriol Servia -11
Bit disappointed in Big O's race, he should have done better no matter what engine he was using, has Dreyer and Reinbold taken more steps backwards in the off season?

22. Rubens Barrichello -9
Rather disappointing opener by Rubens, did he even pass a car on the track? He'll need more time in the seat to adapt to the DW12.

23. Simona de Silvestro -7
I thought Porkchop was gone...?

24. James Jakes +1
James was fast at points this weekend but screwed himself. At least we know their is talent there.

25. Ed Carpenter -2
The worst road racer in the series. It will be a long year for him. Imagine if he was in a Lotus....

26. Katherine Legge 0
The worst driver in the series this year. She did not have a good weekend at all.